First Woman to Circumnavigate the Continent

Lisa Blair attempted to break the world record for sailing solo around Antarctica, and even after a disastrous dismasting is set to be officially recognized as the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Continent by World Book of Records, London (U.K).

LISA Blair's monumental world record effort has finally reached its end, as the former Sunshine Coast sailor prepares to land on Australian soil after circumnavigating Antarctica.

She originally aimed to become the first woman to circumnavigate the Antarctic solo and unassisted and also aimed to break the world record for the circumnavigation held by Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov.

Ms. Blair began her voyage on January 22, but after completing about three-quarters of the journey over 72 days, the mast on her yacht Climate Action Now came down in heavy seas, almost 1660km from shore in Antarctic waters.

She built a jury rig and motor sailed herself safely to Cape Town in South Africa, where she spent two months repairing the damage.She restarted her journey on Sunday, June 11, and the final leg of the trip has found Lisa battling seasickness, snowstorms, a severe knockdown, and exhaustion.

Pending the official ratification of a record by the World Sailing Speed Record Council, Ms. Blair is still set to become the first woman to circumnavigate the Antarctic.

The journey took 184 days in total including the two months at Cape Town and the time spent traveling to and from land after the dismasting, but Ms. Blair only spent 104 days sailing the circumnavigation track.